Midsummer Nights
by librikolibri
Summary: A couple of OneShots for NaLu week 2015. Latest: Bonus day 8 - Cold. Her apartment feels too cold without Natsu there. Lucy between chapters 416 and 419.
1. Wander

**Day 1 – Wander**

 _Even as Natsu wanders, he can't seem to stop remembering Lucy. Set between chapters 416 and 418 during the one year time-skip._

* * *

As thickheaded as Natsu is, he knows that wandering off by himself for a year isn't going to be very welcome news for most of the guild (except maybe Gray, that stripper). And as such, he also knows that Lucy is going to lose it if he disappears without a trace.

It's the reason why she's the only one that gets his will (a note, Happy says, they left a note, not a will) and she's the only one he tells what he's doing, even if it's only through a slip of paper. He isn't quite sure himself why he feels as if he can't go without leaving something for Lucy – apart from the fact that she's going to break down if someone else from her life disappears to where she can't reach (he tries to ignore that – note or no note – he will be gone just as suddenly as her parents and that he'll be going somewhere she can't reach, too). And as badly as he feels about that, he expected that to be it. No Lucy, no thinking about notes that aren't enough, just wondering about where he'll go next and what he'll eat next.

Maybe it's proof to his way of not thinking everything through when it doesn't just stop like that. Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he's always thinking about Lucy and the way she looked when her father died. Does she look like that now, too? If yes … is it his fault? It's alright, he tries to convince himself, it's not like he's dead. And he left a will (a note, Happy says). She knows what he's out there to do and that's enough. It should be. But maybe it isn't.

It gets worse when the first months are over. He's stopped turning around for Lucy to show her something awesome he's found – he knows she isn't there. But even if he knows that, it doesn't stop everything around him from reminding him of her. Sometimes he wants to scream and destroy a whole forest, monsters and all. Sometimes he remembers the way she cries and wants to return on the spot. He stops himself from actually doing it, but it doesn't change that the thought is there, that there are times when he wants to return so badly that it almost hurts. But he's here for a reason, he has to get stronger for all the people he couldn't save (Lisanna, Future Lucy, Igneel, Lucy, Igneel, Lucy, Lucy, _Lucy_ ). He can't lose someone precious again.

There's only the assurance that she can do missions with Erza – or Wendy – or even the stupid ice princess with his stupid stalker. They'll protect her and when he returns, it will be like nothing has ever happened. Except that he won't have to rely on anyone else to protect the people precious to him (he can protect _her_ ). And then, maybe, the bad things will stop happening – no one will have to die again because he couldn't protect them.

It's easier when he's training – which is most of the time, so that's good. He doesn't think he could stay away from home much longer if the training didn't remind him of why he's here again and again (somehow, he wonders when home became Lucy's apartment instead of the little shack he and Happy built). When he's training, he doesn't think of her smile or her tears or the face she might be making right now. Still, there are some times when he thinks that he'd have more fun if she was fighting by his side. It's his own fault for leaving her behind, so he tries not to think about it too much, but sometimes he feels something that's too close to regret for it to be comfortable.

He once makes the mistake of mentioning it to Happy – the only answer he gets is a mischievous grin and an exaggerated "You liiiiike her!", which is ridiculous, because, sure, he likes Lucy, but there's no way he likes her that much (his mind disagrees, finding her face in too many memories and dreams and wishes, but Natsu is stubborn and something like love isn't necessary right now). Happy continues to tease him for the next week and as much as Natsu loves his little buddy, those comments are _annoying_. He thinks he knows why Lucy always gets so mad at them now.

Happy stops teasing him after Natsu finally snaps at the end of seven long days and too much thinking about Lucy. Happy doesn't mention the subject at all again, beside a small and surprisingly solemn "You know I'm right." before the blue cat decides that it's enough and that Charla is something much better to talk about. Ironically, Happy's silence when something concerning Lucy comes up makes Natsu think even more about it (there's no way Happy is right – but maybe …).

The year doesn't fly by as fast as he hoped (it's interrupted by the times when he stops and sees her face in his mind) but somehow, he's finally reached the other side of a one year span and making his way to the Grand Magic Games. If Fairy Tail isn't going to participate this year (what's the matter, are they still rebuilding the guild hall?), he's going to win over the other guilds for them. As a little homecoming gift maybe, to apologize for leaving so suddenly (and maybe Lucy will see why he left – why it was necessary).

The feeling he has when he sends the whole arena into a burning inferno is exhilarating – and yet, it can't beat the moment when he sees Lucy's face among the people (the real one this time) and she hesitantly smiles back at him when he calls out to her. He's back again. She's there again.

He's _home_ again.


	2. Gratitude

**Day 2 – Gratitude**

 _Natsu is always doing so much for her that Lucy wonders if she can ever thank him enough._

* * *

Sometimes, Lucy thinks Natsu does too much for her.

Don't get her wrong, she is infinitely glad that he took her to Fairy Tail with him and it's probably the best thing that could have ever happened to her. Also, she _is_ quite thankful to him for always saving her when she's in a pinch. But being on the receiving end of too many things he's done for her, Lucy wonders if she can ever show him enough gratitude for it all.

Honestly, even if it would have only been thanking him for this new family and all the new chances she now has, it would have taken a long time. Because Fairy Tail is more than she dared to hope and she loves all of them so much, her heart almost isn't big enough to hold it all in. But there are so many other things to thank him for besides that, so many, many reasons for it that she wonders if she can even just convey half of the gratitude she's feeling. Even just a fourth of it.

And really, when will Natsu ever _stop_ doing things for her? Probably never, Lucy realizes, because Natsu is just that kind of person. She feels a little selfish when she notices that she likes the thought of Natsu continuing to do things for her (a little too much, at that).

Things like making her his partner (in crime, she often thinks, they destroy too many buildings on the side) and being her friend are maybe the things she wants to thank him for most, along with taking her to Fairy Tail, He'd probably never hear of it if he knew – nakama are nakama. _She's_ nakama (but really, that's all thanks to him too, isn't it?) and he treats her like it (or maybe just a little more – he doesn't sleep at anyone else's place after all).

He's always saving her, too, it seems. From her past, from so many enemies that she can't count them anymore. From herself (because she remembers the time when her father died – the time when the tears wouldn't come and he stood by her). Sometimes she thinks she might be a bother to him, but then she remembers that he's always saving everyone – and that _he_ bothers _her_ enough to make up for it.

She does try to let her gratitude show by letting him stay longer at her house than she actually has the nerve for and being a little more lenient with him – sometimes it works, but on other times, Natsu grates on her nerves too much by being his usual idiotic self. She kicks him out when that happens, because gratitude or not, can't he let her have one – _one!_ \- single minute of peace in her own apartment? Nobody else bothers her even nearly as much and doesn't he have his own house to go home to? (She's kind of flattered that he prefers her room, but even that has its limits and Natsu always tests them with vigour).

She tries to do other things for him, too. Like cooking for him more often (he'll come over and ask for her food anyway, she can put in a little effort) or letting him sleep on her lap when they're riding the train (it must be worlds better than getting knocked out by Erza and so she endures the teasing remarks Happy likes to throw at her so much). Like not locking her window anymore, because he doesn't need to be wasting his time breaking the window lock while sitting outside in the cold when she can just unlock it in the first place (she ignores the fact that Natsu of all people wouldn't be cold, even in the fresh night air, and that unlocking the window is more like an invitation than anything else – that would mean something she isn't quite sure she wants to acknowledge yet and Natsu wouldn't know what it means anyway – he can't, not if she herself doesn't).

Sometimes he'll notice that she doesn't usually do that much for him and ask things like when she's started to be this nice suspiciously, as if he's suspecting it's all a ploy to lure him into a trap. She gets away with telling him in an affronted tone that she's always _been_ this nice and he just never noticed, but it doesn't change the fact that – when he asks those questions – Natsu looks at her differently. Almost as if he notices something she doesn't (but that's absurd, because she'll notice if there's anything wrong with her, or just different). But then he turns away, returning to his normal attitude, all yelling and fighting and bothering her (she'd be glad about his attention if it wasn't so annoying – no, that's a lie, she still enjoys his attention).

Still, she gets the feeling that all nice gestures aren't enough – _can_ never be enough to convey her gratitude for all that he's done for her (and for the thing that he didn't do, she won't forget that). Even though he's an idiot, he's _her_ idiot (or maybe you could say that he's everyone's idiot, but she's the one that suffers from his idiocy most and therefore he's mostly her idiot. Lucy tries to get her thoughts away from the fact that she wants to call him hers in other ways, because that's surely just a random thought that doesn't mean anything much) and she loves all the things he does for her (and him, a small part inside of her shouts – she shushes it and turns away, embarrassed). And maybe, if he keeps doing more things fore her sake than he does for his own, she'll spend her whole life doing things for him in return, so that she can at least repay him in part.

(In retrospect, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing, does it?)


	3. Transformation

**Day 3 – Transformation**

 _A retelling of 2014's Episode 47 (where Mira shows Lucy and Natsu Transformation Magic) from Natsu's view._

* * *

It begins with the sun rising – a normal day like any other in Magnolia. Only that Lucy seems to want to learn Transformation Magic and asks Mira to teach her. This is a not so every day occurrence.

"That kind of sounds interesting."

Natsu's a little pumped about it. Of course, Lucy has to go and be all unhappy that he wants to be able to play more pranks. It's not like he'd use them on her. Not most of the time anyway, the people he really wants to prank are mostly Gray and Erza. Gray because he's stupid and never wears anything. Erza because – who wouldn't want to prank Erza? Without getting found out of course. Lucy shouldn't be complaining before he's even started. Wouldn't she like to see Erza getting pranked too? It'd be hilarious, he bets.

Even though Lucy doesn't seem all that glad that they're coming too, Natsu and Happy come with her and Mirajane when they change location. It's a park and – wait, isn't that the park where he and Happy dug out the rainbow sakura that time? It earned them quite beating back then, when the master found out about it, but thinking isn't something Natsu does overly much and the consequences of a vanished tree weren't quite on his mind back then. What was on his mind was the awesome idea of digging out a tree and sending it up the river, passing Lucy's apartment. She wanted to see it, so why not? The tree still lives, no problem there.

Surprisingly, Transformation Magic is a lot more complicated than it seems, because he doesn't understand a word of what Mira says – something about principles and stuff. "It's difficult …" he hears Lucy say while he's half asleep. You can't blame him, lessons are boring. At least the whole talking about difficult theory stuff. It makes him fall asleep. Happy too.

Somehow, they end up moving on to practical exercises. Even Lucy skips in happiness and she's the one that's been complaining about him sleeping while Mira explains things. Before they start, Mira shows them which levels of transformation look like what – and it's creepy. Why does she have to choose Erza of all people to imitate? Erza is scary! And she even used the Erza Voice against him! _That's_ just not fair, no matter how you look at it. Thankfully, Mira moves on from Erza and shows them some other forms.

Finally, Mira lets them do something themselves. He'd raher start at the advanced level right away, but she uses Erza against him (it's absolutely not fair). She tells him and Happy to try and turn into Lucy and to Lucy she says "turn into Natsu" (him! Not Happy! He feels as if he's won something. Then again, transforming into a cat is probably no longer beginner's level). It's gonna be easy. After all, he spends most of the hours of the day – _and_ the night – with Lucy. He knows what to transform into.

"Look at each other carefully."

He's looking. Lucy is looking too. She looks kind of weird, concentrating that hard, but Lucy is always weird, so it fits. He's still looking. She has blonde hair, but he knows that. He also knows the colour of her eyes and the way her face looks. He's been around her long enough to know after all.

"That's it. Look at each other and picture it."

Picture it … he takes a step forward. He can picture it, can't he? He's looking at her at least. He can _see_ it, right there in front of his eyes. The face that gets angry at him so often because Lucy thinks he destroys too much on jobs.

"Look even more closely and picture each other."

He's looking. Is there something unusual about Lucy today? Like, anything out of the ordinary that he has to picture too?

"Ah … a pimple."

"Shut up!"

And then she gets all angry at him. What's wrong? He's just looking at her. And besides, can't she do something against it now that she knows? He takes a few steps to be closer to her, because Mira says something about it being easier to turn into someone that's close to him. Also, it gives him an excuse to invade Lucy's personal space. It's always fun to see her reaction to that.

"Hey! That's too close!"

As predicted, she gets all flustered and blush-y about it. It kind of reminds Natsu of the time when Asuka told him to kiss Lucy – she reacted the same way back then. It's a shame though. He did want to kiss her. Because she's Lucy. He won't be forgetting her putting Happy between them anytime soon. It's breaking his confidence just this little bit where she's concerned, but oh well. There will be other opportunities.

"Your face, your body … imagine they're the other person and focus. Gather your magic and use it for the other person's image alone."

He's imagining. What if she hadn't put Happy between them that time? What would she have done afterwards? The questions are a bit mind-boggling, because he wants to answer that everything would have gone well. It's a hope of his after all. At the same time, he really doesn't know how Lucy would have reacted and absolutely doesn't want to think about the countless alternatives in which Lucy sees him as just a friend and not someone she can kiss. They don't matter because they didn't happen, but he's still imagining. It's probably a little different from what Mira wants him to do though.

"Unleash it!"

They transform, or rather: They try. It doesn't work. It's probably because he was thinking of other things. But for once he actually has the initiative to. He _has_ to think about Lucy after all – picture her, yes, but it's about Lucy. That's enough. "Huh?" Lucy seems all disappointed when Mira tells her that it usually doesn't go well on the first time.

"Lame!" Natsu can't stop himself from cracking up a bit. Lucy is ridiculous like always. Happy chimes in, "You couldn't get it right, Lucy!" And, as expected, she gets angry at them, pointing out that they haven't gotten it right either. At least the fire in her eyes is back again.

"Nah, now I've got the knack"

It's true. He'll just have to think more about her body this time, not about how he'd like to kiss her. It should work with that. Happy says he's got it down too and Natsu is reminded of just how much time the both of them spend in Lucy's presence.

They try it once more and this time he pays attention, really closely, to how Lucy's eyes take on a concentrated look, to how she purses her mouth in concentration and to how her chest heaves with every breath she takes. He knows how Lucy's breasts look – he's seen them often enough to get a really good picture in his mind and they're definitely everything _but_ bad-looking. He admits that sometimes, he burns her clothes off just to get a good look at them. In her view, they're all accidents, so no harm done.

Happy is the first to transform, a Lucy-headed blue cat with cat ears. Then comes Natsu himself. Maybe it isn't that surprising from where his thoughts have been that he's got Lucy's bust down perfectly and that it's showcased by the old vest he used to wear. Lucy is embarrassed – no real surprise there. She always is when someone sees too much of her body (although now, the only one really looking is she herself, so he doesn't quite get her problem).

"I'm the one who wanted to learn Transformation Magic …" the whole it's-not-fair aura is completed by a very Lucy-like pout and even as he and Happy laugh at her, Natsu thinks that she looks a bit cute like that. He isn't going to tell her that though, Lucy can find that out herself. After all, wouldn't that be much more interesting?


	4. Smoke

**Day 4 – Smoke**

 _As the smoke from the fire they were sitting around clouded her senses, Lucy_ _came_ _to a conclusion._

* * *

"Ah … why couldn't we have taken the train? It's getting dark already and we're not even halfway through this forest."

Erza turned around to Lucy. "We didn't have a choice. They said that the repairs on the tracks were taking longer than expected. We would have had to wait at least until the day after tomorrow." Lucy sighed, not at all happy with the situation. "Even though I know that …"

"Don't be so gloomy, Lucy", Natsu said from behind her, grinning. "Why would you have wanted to take the train anyway?" Well, it seemed that there was at least one person that profited from the change of plans.

"I don't have motion sickness like you, Natsu. I would have been totally fine. But now my feet hurt so much, I can't go on for much longer. I knew shouldn't have worn the new shoes …"

A couple of shrugs were all her complaint managed to get out of her friends. Lucy was sure none of _them_ had any problems with shoes. Natsu and Erza were wearing the same footwear as always and Gray hadn't brought his shoes with him in the first place. Something about having to give them to Juvia, because his girlfriend wanted something to 'remember him by' while he was away.

Another sigh. Why was Gray, who was almost as oblivious as Natsu when it came to things concerning love, getting this way ahead of her in the romance department? This couldn't be! She was Lucy Heartfilia, she had the charm and the body to seduce anyone! So why, _why_ in the world was she still boyfriendless? It wasn't as if she wanted someone that was absolutely perfect, she knew that was too much to ask for – he'd just need to be nice enough, and loyal, and strong and – a picture of Natsu came into her mind. Lucy shook her head, unbelievingly. Sure, he had some of the qualities she was looking for in a guy, but he was also –

"Hey, Lucy, did you know that there's this really weird-looking bruise on your thigh?"

What? She twisted her torso to see it and promptly tripped. Natsu and Happy were laughing boisterously until a well-placed glare of Erza's shut them up. Lucy looked at her thigh. There was nothing even remotely bruise-shaped on it and she thought she might just slap herself. Of course it was a prank. What else had she expected from Natsu?

Yes, he was an idiot. And that was the number one reason why it was absolutely, completely impossible for her to feel attracted to him. He was an idiot among idiots after all and she prided herself on having a little more class than that. She looked up and saw that only Natsu was still there.

"Come on. Erza said she'd look for a place to stop since your feet hurt that bad." he stretched out a hand to her. "And I didn't mean for you to _fall_." Lucy smiled and nodded, taking his hand. He was not _such_ an idiot maybe – or maybe an idiot, but still a sincere and likeable idiot.

When they reached Erza and Gray, Lucy was surprised to see that Erza had already set the camp and built a fire. It was a testimony to her efficiency that she was able to do it in this little time and Lucy wondered not for the first time if Erza didn't maybe have some sort of additional super extra powers. Nobody was _that_ efficient, not normally.

"Whoa, this fire looks nice!"

"Don't!", started Lucy, understanding very well where Natsu's train of thought was heading. "This one isn't for eating!" Natsu looked at her with a "Why not?" look before he caught Erza's stare and thought better of his meal plans. Lucy sat down on a fallen tree beside Erza, relieved to finally ease the pressure on her feet (somehow, she got the feeling that the tree had been felled by the swordswoman for exactly that purpose) and stretched out her hands towards the fire. From the corner of her eyes, Lucy noticed Natsu sitting down near her, on the side of the fire opposite to Gray. They were glaring at each other over the fire, but no fight would break out anytime soon. Erza's presence saw to that.

It didn't take long for a warm, comfortable feeling to spread in Lucy's body. As stressful as the mission and Natsu's and Gray's constant fighting had been, it was a good feeling to know she'd managed to live through both the job and her friends' antics. Lucy inhaled deeply. It smelled like smoke and burning wood, a smell that she had become familiar with as the number of faraway missions increased. After all, how many times had they all sat together around a fire like this? It was _normal_ and Lucy liked the atmosphere.

The fire kind of smelled like Natsu, too. Or rather, Natsu smelled like fire. And how not? He pretty much _was_ fire, just like Gray was ice and Erza was sharp blades and glares. Maybe it was a little weird that she knew how Natsu smelled, now that she thought about it. But it wasn't exactly her choice that Natsu slept in her bed so much and that – even when she kicked him out – his smell would linger and she would fall asleep wrapped in it.

Just a little like the fire's smell did now. It made her drowsy and tired and she felt as if she were half asleep already. Somehow, her earlier thoughts came back to her – Gray and Juvia and love. Why were only they so lucky? She wanted that too. She wanted someone to care for her in that way, she wanted – again, Natsu's face invaded her mind. And as the smoke of the fire clouded her senses, Lucy didn't have the will anymore to deny what had been there for a long time now.

Caught between dreaming and sitting awake, Lucy admitted to herself for the first time that the love she felt for Natsu was not that of a friend.


	5. Need

**Day 5 – Need**

 _Because it was ridiculous that Natsu absolutely needed to sleep in her bed._

* * *

It was late in the evening when Team Natsu came back from one of their usual, turned chaotic missions and Lucy was not only tired, but also stressed because her share of the reward wasn't quite enough to pay for her rent this month. And it hadn't even all been their fault! But the monster they had been chasing destroyed a good deal of the buildings on the north side of the nearby town and so the responsibility was theirs – at least in the eyes of the grouchy mayor that would have payed them even less if they's stayed and discussed it.

As such, it was a Lucy in bad spirits that opened the door of her apartment, hoping at least that she'd be able to sleep well this night. Her bed was waiting for her after all, her soft, welcoming bed –

"Hey, Lucy, what took you so long? Me and Happy were wondering if you fell into the river."

– her bed that was right now occupied by an annoying dragon slayer and his equally annoying blue cat that was currently spouting things like "Lucy's _slow_ " and "You're like an old lady, Lucy". It was certainly not helping her mood any.

"Natsu! Happy! How often have I told you not o sneak into my room?" Frustrated, she asked the question with a little more anger than she usually would have done, but neither Natsu nor Happy seemed even the slightest bit alarmed by it.

"Often.", Natsu said nonchalantly, very apparently not understanding at all what her problem was. _He_ didn't see breaking into other people's houses as a problem, but she did and she would make that very clear.

"Exactly! So why are you here again? Don't you have your own house to go home to?"

Natsu looked at her as if she had said something completely incomprehensible. "But Lucy, we like it here. Your bed is awesome! Why can't we come?"

"You can't! You just can't! Go home!"

Natsu's eyebrows furrowed and his voice took on an accusatory tone. "But you let me sleep here before. I don't understand why now's so different."

An exasperated sigh came out of her mouth. "Natsu, how big do you think my bed is? We're not going to fit in both without – without …" cuddling, her traitorous mind added. "And anyway, I don't want to sleep on the floor, not tonight. If you want to stay here, _you_ take the floor."

Natsu, though, was apparently not as convinced as she was that he absolutely needed to leave her wonderful bed. "You're making everything so complicated, Lucy. Just come to bed already."

The last sentence made Lucy's cheeks colour a bit, but her determination to get to sleep in her own bed tonight was unwavering. "No, no and no. I'm going to shower and when I come out, you better not still be hogging my bed." And with that, she turned away briskly, not risking looking back and seeing Natsu's and Happy's dejected faces. They would not get the better of her tonight!

As the water of the shower drizzled around her, Lucy's thoughts returned to Natsu. Why in the world was he so adamant about absolutely _needing_ to sleep in her bed. It was ridiculous! He and Happy had their own home to return to and they had hammocks to sleep in. They _didn't_ need a sleeping place and they knew she knew it. It was part of the reason why she kicked them out so often.

The other part was a little more complicated. She knew that letting Natsu sleep in her bed was a bad idea, because either she'd sleep on the floor and get horrendous backpains or she would sleep in her own bed _with_ Natsu. Because that had happened every so often, when he slipped into her bed after she had already fallen asleep. And when she woke up in the morning …

Lucy shook her head to get rid of the memories plaguing her brain. The problem was that she was _too aware_ of Natsu in ways that could get troublesome fast. Because – as much as propriety forbade it – she liked sleeping snuggled up to Natsu, so very much. But being raised in a house like hers, she knew very well that feeling like this was considered wrong. She liked sleeping in her bed with Natsu too much. And she was afraid of that.

She turned off the shower and slipped into the pajamas she had remembered to grab before she had gone to shower. The chances of Natsu leaving her apartment without her kicking him out were slim, even if he did decide that provoking her anger might not be such a good thing and that it would be better to surrender her bed.

Thinking like this, Lucy was surprised to not see Natsu anywhere when she stepped out of her bathroom. Not on her bed and not anywhere else. Could it be? Could it really be that Natsu had left her house – and her bed – out of his own, free will? If yes, this situation would be cause to celebrate, but something seemed off about it. This was Natsu after all, she couldn't really imagine him going home just like that – not when it meant that he had given up on something, in this case on her bed. With that in mind, Lucy approached the bed cautiously, a bit skeptical if maybe her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Just as she stretched out her hand to her blanket, hope filling her that she might have really made Natsu see why he didn't _need_ to sleep in her bed, something pushed her onto the mattress from behind.

A little disconcerted, Lucy only noticed what was going on when she found herself wrapped tightly in Natsu's arms with no means of escape, Happy grinning smugly from above them before he lay down beside them as well. Lucy felt her cheeks burning.

"That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it? You really don't know when to do what you've been told, do you?"

Natsu just shrugged, holding her a little tighter. "It was a good plan. You can't run off now and you can't make us leave."

Lucy sighed. "Is this your idea of a prank or did you just want to sleep in my bed again?" She didn't get an answer beside Natsu muttering something incomprehensible into her hair. It sent tingles throughout her body and she distinctly remembered that this was the reason why sleeping in the same bed as Natsu was not a good idea. "You're too warm", she murmured in a half-baked attempt at getting him to leave. It didn't seem to have much of an effect, since she burrowed closer into him when a breeze from the opened window made her shiver. She was already getting drowsy and she didn't _really_ want him to leave. It might have been wrong and she might have been thinking about Natsu in ways she shouldn't, because she wasn't anything more than his friend, but right now she couldn't have cared less.

"You're too loud, Lucy. Go to sleep."

In the morning, she might regret it, thinking too much and in all the complicated ways about how she wasn't supposed to be this intimate with a man that was neither her boyfriend, nor fiancé or lover opr anything else, but at the moment, there was only Natsu and the need to be as close to him as possible, so she relented.

"Yeah. Goodnight."

 _Goodnight. I love you._


	6. Glory Days

**Day 6 – Glory Days**

 _Future Lucy looks back at the days she cherished most._

warning: angsty

* * *

It's quiet in the town of Magnolia when she arrives. She should have expected it, because there's barely anyone alive at all and Magnolia isn't an exception, but seeing the streets she remembers so well empty and abandoned hurts her more than she would have thought. It feels as though somewhere deep inside, she still had the hope that it all wasn't real, that she'd come home and meet everyone again. But she knows that won't happen. She knows it all too well, because she's seen countless people die, strangers, nakama, _Natsu_. She feels like crying.

The only one Lucy knows is alive is Levy, but everything that has happened has broken her best friend so much that Lucy wonders if Levy really is still living. Alive, yes, but … different. Levy doesn't smile anymore, not even when she mentions old stories and memories. It makes Lucy feel worse herself and it's the reason why she decided to pay Magnolia a visit, before she returns to Levy in Crocus. A last time to see the place where her heart still lies. But it's been buried there with the ghosts of the dead and Lucy knows that she, too, will never be the same anymore.

She walks slowly, as if she's afraid that even this will fall apart, the city and the streets and the memories. Everything else is already shattered and unable to return. Like everyone that was lost. She passes several shops where the windows are broken (brokenbroken _broken_ – is there even anything else left?). The merchandise is still there, some of it a bit rumpled and all of it dusty. It just serves as another reminder that even here in Magnolia, life has ended as abruptly as everywhere else.

More and more streets she walks upon, streets whose names she can't quite remember anymore. But she _can_ remember the smiles, the laughter and everywhere brimming with conversations. It's all ended. She walks a bit faster, trying to leave the sounds that still ring through her ears behind. Lucy only stops walking when she's reached the guild hall. Ironically, even though it's been destroyed on so many other occasions, this time it almost looks like there's not a single scratch on it.

She's trembling.

She can remember. The way the city seemed to shine and the way their guild shined brightest of all. She remembers everyone's smiles and the days that will never return. She remembers the day when everything began. When Natsu first stretched out his hand out to her and asked if she wanted to join Fairy Tail. She remembers how he tricked her into being his partner. _She remembers_. Their first mission together, all of the other missions. Erza and Gray. The Phantom Lord incident, when the knowledge in her was cemented that Fairy Tail was family. Natsu catching her when she falls off the tower. Mira and Elfman overcoming part of the sorrow that grieved them. Reedus helping her. Gajeel and Juvia joining. The tower of heaven and Jellal, Erza almost dying. The infighting. Laxus, Freed, Bixlow, Evergreen. Nirvana and Oracion Seis, Wendy and Cait Shelter. Edolas. Lisanna returning, the joy in her siblings' faces. Tenroujima. Grimoire Heart, Zeref, Acnologia. Coming home. The Grand Magic Games. And –

" _Lucy."_

That day. She's crying now, sobbing and screaming, because it shouldn't have ended this way, it should never had ended this way.

" _If we're gonna die …"_

She's crying even harder, her vision blurring from all the tears she sheds. Why? Why? _Why?_

" _I wanted you to know I love you."_

An anguished shriek escapes her. She knows now. But it's too late for her, too late, _too late._ Because Natsu is dead, died protecting her, and she still can't stop loving him. She loves him. _She loves him._ She remembers his smile, the way her world lit up when he was there. She remembers _everything_ , remembers the days when they were happy and would have never thought that something like this would happen. The days when she – they _all_ – were smiling and wondering what the next day would bring with anticipation and not with dread. The days when Fairy Tail was still alive. She remembers it all.

She lifts her left hand halfway to wipe her tears and avoids looking at the empty space where her right arm once was, the arms with the hand that was marked with the guild's emblem and the memories of days where everything was still alright.

The glory days, indeed.


	7. Happy

**Day 7 – Happy**

 _In which a little blue cat asks Lucy to be his mom_

OR: _Even proposing is something Natsu and Happy do together._

* * *

"Luucyyyyyy!"

She turns around at the sound of her name being called, only barely catching the winged cat barreling towards her before he hits the wooden post beside her. Happy doesn't usually try to annoy her when Natsu isn't around to annoy her too, so she figures that this is something serious. Although Happy has quite a different opinion on the topic of how serious things are, so he could just be upset about a fish or Charla. _Or_ Charla not accepting his fish again.

"What's wrong?"

Lucy waits before prying further, because it's the polite thing to do and because she knows how it feel when people talk too much when she doesn't want them to. Happy looks up from where she is holding him against her chest, cheeks puffed and eyes wide in something that looks like a mix of concentration and anticipation. She can't help but wonder what's going on.

"Lucy …", Happy begins, then stops, mouth half open. It looks comically cute and Lucy wonders not for the first time how someone so adorable can annoy her so much. "Lucy … your hair looks weird. Did you try to eat fish with it?"

She drops him, hissing and upset, and Happy knows her well enough to fly away to safety at once. In all her anger, Lucy never notices how Happy looks down dejectedly or how the part where he insulted her in his own, fish-related terms has been muttered weakly, as if saying it instead of something else.

But Lucy _doesn't_ know and so the rest of the evening is spent chasing her boyfriend's winged best friend until it gets dark and she gives up for the day.

.

The second time something like that happens, Lucy is convinced that it's all some new scheme from her friends to annoy the hell out of her. And here she was even thinking that maybe it _was_ something important, worrying over Happy's tear-glazed eyes as time goes on and he still doesn't get a word out.

But no, no matter how she looks at it now, those were fake tears. Who would cry only because they couldn't say something they wanted to say? _No one._ All a ploy to get her to feel sorry for Happy, who certainly ruined it all by saying she stinks and why does she even use this shampoo if it smells like this? It makes her annoyed and furious and _everything_ that incurs her wrath. This time, she almost gets Happy's tail, but he vanishes around a corner and when she continues to search for him, she only finds Natsu, who – as she soon notices – has no idea why Happy's acting like that either, but manages to make her anger disappear with a few scorching kisses, because her boyfriend is _always_ in the mood for kisses, and especially the way she melts in his arms even when she's upset.

It's only when he leaves for the night, when he goes to search for Happy and ask him about it, that Lucy notices she's supposed to be angry.

.

The incident repeats itself, time and time again, and Lucy's not so sure if it's just a ploy to annoy her anymore. Natsu seems to know what it's about, because he looks away nervously whenever it happens again. But she's never been able to get anything out of him, because whenever she gets it into her mind to ask, Natsu always derails her train of thought with spontaneous make-out sessions. She's not one to say no to her boyfriend about things like these, because she likes them as much as he does, but currently it has her just a bit frustrated.

Lucy tries to and fails to keep up with her inquiring the next time Natsu stops her with his hands and mouth. Sometimes she thinks that it might be just a little bit inconvenient that she loves him as much as she does. She decides to let the topic go for now, if only because Happy will tell her when he's ready and really, she's absolutely ecstatic with the attention Natsu pays her (not that he usually doesn't, mind you).

.

It's probably the sixty-third time Happy starts with the now almost routine-like "Lucy …" and by now, she almost isn't expecting anything anymore.

"Can you be my mom?"

And Lucy is spluttering, because the way Happy is asking and the fact that Natsu has known about it and was nervously directing her thoughts onto different topics for weeks – does it mean what she thinks – _hopes_ it means?

It does, it soon turns out, because Natsu is coming over as well, procuring a rings from some pocket and saying that he kind of wants to marry her, so will she –? She knocks both him and Happy over when her hug turns out to be a little too enthusiastic, screaming "yes" on top of her lungs.

Of course, the guild hears, and that night is a night of partying for the whole of Fairy Tail, who make a big affair of everything celebrate-worthy. But between hoots and congratulations, guild fights and much alcohol, Natsu doesn't forget to whisk her away for a little while. He kisses her elatedly and Happy, who has noticed them sneaking around, throws her a good-natured "He liiiikes you" and it means more to her than she will ever admit to the little blue-furred troublemaker.

.

The morning after, Lucy curiously asks Happy why exactly he and Natsu did it like this. 'Cause, you know, like this it's a bit like Happy proposed to her for Natsu and really, why?

Happy brags that it's because he and Natsu do _everything_ together and only lets it slip on the side that Natsu kind of didn't know how to propose and that – as his loyal partner – Happy had to help him out a bit. Lucy only laughs and tells him that it was sweet of him. Happy "Aye"s and she thinks that this is just so much like _them_ that it doesn't even surprise her anymore.


	8. Cold

**Bonus day 8 – Cold**

 _Her apartment feels too cold without Natsu there. Lucy between chapters 416 and 419._

* * *

Lucy doesn't notice the first night they're gone, because she's crying too much to notice anything beside the tears streaming from her eyes. They left her behind. Just a letter, a small, little note really, and they're gone just like that. She didn't even get to say goodbye or give both Natsu and Happy a long hug if she can't come with them. The lingering of their (Natsu's, really) scent and warmth stings, but it also soothes the upset girl to sleep.

She starts to notice on the third night without them that it's not as warm in her room as it once was. She doesn't think too much about it at the time because Fairy Tail has disbanded and she couldn't care less about the temperature her apartment has. It won't bring Natsu and Happy back and it won't bring Fairy Tail back. On the third night, Lucy cries even more than on the first night, and this time there is no warmth left to soothe her.

On the seventh day, Lucy goes to sleep in a cold apartment with a lump forming in her throat. Normally Natsu would have come by now, sneaking in from the window, but now is not normally and Natsu is gone. He's not anywhere near, maybe not even in Fiore anymore, and her apartment feels cold as a result, because Natsu pretty much exudes heat wherever he goes and often unknowingly acts like the heater she never had. It's _too_ cold without him, Lucy notices with a shiver.

A few weeks in and Lucy notices that it isn't just the physical temperature that's dropped. The streets are cold without Natsu beside her, her apartment is cold, her bed is cold, everything is cold. Being alone is cold. She's alone again and she hates it, so much. When she goes to sleep, she always hopes in vain that Natsu will return earlier. Return to Magnolia, to _her_. She falls asleep with the thought that when she sees Natsu and Happy again, she's going to let them crash at her place, if only to feel warm again.

Lucy has moved to Crocus after the first month and after a few misunderstandings she's finally a reporter. She starts out with high aspirations to find all of her friends and a little part of her feels just a bit warmer when she thinks that – _maybe_ – she'll be able to find Natsu and Happy before the year is up and drag them back for a long, _long_ hug. The warmth in her chest starts to slowly fade with time, because she _doesn't_ find Natsu and Happy, can't find anything on them, not even the slightest rumour. It's getting colder again, this time a mental coldness, when she realizes that she probably _won't_ find them until they find her. If the rambunctious duo of dragonslayer and flying cat has managed to stay under the radar so far, they'll continue to do so. They're stubborn like that. Lucy still feeds on every little bit of information on the members of Fairy Tail – her friends – that she can find. But internally, she resigns herself to not seeing Natsu and Happy (but mostly Natsu) for the rest of the year that they're planning to be away. Lucy feels even colder when she realizes that Natsu and Happy are so idiotic and forgetful that for them, two years or even five might pass before the notice that they're supposed to be home again.

The year passes and – despite her doubts – Natsu and Happy return almost on time, only a few days too late (seven days, she thinks quietly to herself, they're exactly seven days too late). They barrel into Crocus and the Grand Magic Games and her life, destroying everything in sight. It reminds Lucy of their first meeting and the big smile Natsu gives her does, too. She lets them sleep at her new place and they bow before her as if she's some sort of goddess (they did that the first time she bought them food the first time they met, too), but Lucy knows that it's really just a selfish wish of hers for them to stay near her, because she sure as hell won't let them out of her sight, not if she's just gotten them back.

This time, she falls asleep to an apartment that's all cozy and warm because of both her friends', but mostly Natsu's warmth. It's the first time since they left that she falls asleep with a smile on her face.

Lucy doesn't feel cold anymore.

* * *

 **Sorry that this took so freaking long, but I had a severe case of writer's block and didn't manage to write this one for a long time. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.**

 **Libri**


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